Midnight's Sad Sorrow, Daylight's Sweet Bliss
by Ginny-Rose95
Summary: Morelli's betrayed Stephanie and the only person she thinks to call is Ranger.  Now a Two-shot
1. Chapter 1

Since my first attempt was well-recieved I decided to post my second story thats been running through my mind. It has slightly racy themes but I rated it T because it's less explicit then moments in the books are. I hope you enjoy it.

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><p>"My apartment, now." The words were soft, urgent sounding, and nerve-wracking. He could hear the fear, the worry, and the echoed sadness in the words and his heart clenched. Something was wrong with his babe, and he didn't know what. Fear had him hurrying to his car, keys clenched in his right hand, gun holstered to his right thigh. Fear had him racing through the streets to her apartment, praying she was alright.<p>

He hurried through the halls of her apartment complex, keeping eyes on the other renters; nothing was out of the norm, the elderly were as ornery as always, smiling, waving, no news of strange sounds or men, but then again, there had been other times in the past where she had been in danger and not a single thing was heard or seen by her neighbors.

The door to her apartment was locked, a fact that he didn't know if he should be relieved about or even more worried. He opted for more worry when he slid into the apartment, latching the chain back in place and saw the disarray of her apartment. Papers were strewn here and there, books ripped, glass figurines smashed. The most worrying part however, was the torn photographs and cracked frames that littered around her living room.

All the photos that were ruined were the sparse amount that detailed her and Morelli's off-and-on relationship. As a rule, he could tell when they were "off" by the photos being hidden out of sight in a cardboard box that was supposed to yet never made it to the dumpster down below in the parking lot. He hadn't helped but notice that they had been out of sight more than not lately.

The ripped photos now didn't bring him the vindictive pleasure that seeing them hidden had given him but spiked more worry. Stephanie wouldn't hurt the photos himself on the hopes that they would reconcile so seeing them ripped brought the thoughts of stalkers to his mind. His babe had met a lot of crazy, deranged skips over the years and he worried that one had found her. The memories of the sheer terror of Ramirez came to mind before he forcibly reminded himself that the man was long dead, shot to death while breaking in through Stephanie's bedroom window.

There were others though and the thoughts of all the times he had used her as a distraction to gain a skip from a bar brought the panic resurfacing and his gun was held tight in his hand as he approached the bedroom door. The door was locked as well but no sound emitted from it so he went and picked the simplistic lock. The door squeaked as he shouldered it open, gun in hand and was shocked and relieved by the sight.

Stephanie was sitting on the bed with her head down, the only visible injuries being the cuts and bruises littered across her pale hands. She was quiet, not even acknowledging his appearance, not to even yell at him for breaking into her home. The silence was awkward unsettling. He missed his constantly chatting, sometimes yelling babe and he just might kill whoever did this to her.

"Babe," he whispered, gently but firmly pushing her chin upward, forcing her to look up at him. The sight that met him made him nearly see red. A dark, deep purplish bruise surrounded her left eye which was puffy from whatever impacted her. He was going to kill whoever did it, murder him and then rip his body apart for the sheer pleasure. "Who?"

Stephanie wasn't listening though, she simply looked back down and stared at her injured face, "I'm sorry for calling you, but you were the only one I thought that would come so let, Morelli-" he growled, barely registering that she had flinched. He knew she knew that he would never hurt her and with a gentle stroke of her cheek, reassured her.

"Morelli did this?" he ran a long, dark finger across the top of the cheek were the purple flesh meshed with the unblemished peach skin. She shook her head.

"Joyce did but don't worry, she came out worse," he chuckled at her calm statement, brushing hair back and gently sliding himself beside her, arms wrapping around her body, warming her cold skin and simultaneously comforting her. She laid her head against his chest and breathed in deeply.

"How does Morelli fit in?" he asked after a few moments in which he ascertained that his babe was at least somewhat comforted; he knew what had happened between her and Joyce Barnhardt, all about the sordid affair in which Stephanie had come home to find the woman riding her husband like no tomorrow on her new kitchen table, but he couldn't figure how the hatred would feature Morelli, not even he would be stupid enough to sleep with that woman.

"I found them, one my couch." Stephanie whispered, her voice tight, "I started screaming and throwing things. I thought he was different, that he wasn't the boy he was in high school," she laughed tonelessly, "he's worse. The boy from high school wouldn't stand up with his pants to his ankles stuttering that it wasn't what it looked like and mumbling apologies." He held her tightly.

"I took my gun out and explained to him that he was breaking and entering and I had the right to shoot him and he left quickly, but not before Joyce punched me hard in the face. I nicked her in the arm pretty good and she ran screaming." Ranger couldn't help it, he chuckled darkly.

"You _shot _Joyce Barnhardt in the arm?" he could hear the disbelief in his own voice and was shocked to see her nod; he very nearly thought he had misheard her. "Proud of you babe." He told her, muzzling his chin into her wild brown curls. "What do you want me to do about Morelli? Shoot him? Remove excess body parts?" She shook her head.

"I –" she blushed a fair, rosy pink but looked up and stared directly into his eyes; her blue eyes were bright, darker than ,"I want you to spend the night with me. I don't want to be alone," she kissed harshly, pressing her body taunt to his. He could feel the blood rush to somewhere lower than his hips and after a few lingering moments, pushed her gently but firmly away.

"Babe," he said calmly, carefully. He watched her eyes fill with unshed tears anew and before he could comfort or finish speaking she had pushed her way from his arms.

"You don't want me either, this was stupid, I'm sorry." She was rushing, the tears falling from her cheeks. He winced at her words.

"Babe." He tried again but she simply shook her head.

"I'm sorry Ranger, I should have known you wouldn't want me, no one seems to, let alone someone like you," she laughed tonelessly. "Please just go, I'm tired." She made to push him off the bed, but he grabbed her arms and pulled her close.

"You have no idea how much I want you, how much I always want you," he nearly growled, body tight against hers, "I love you and I want you to always know that, if Morelli is too damn stupid to realize how amazing you are that's his problem. But I don't want to love you like this, when you are distraught over him, not realizing what you are doing –" but Stephanie had kissed him again and Ranger was sure if she did it again, he would be unable to control himself.

"I know exactly what I'm doing," she hissed, angry at his words, once she pulled away, "I know exactly what I want,"

"I don't want to be a replacement," he told her, his final card, but he could feel his resolve crumbling,

"You aren't," she promised, lips pressed once more against him and his mind stopped working, hands traveling down her body, pulling her onto the bed.

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><p>The morning light shone onto her tussled hair, leading downward until his eyes were stopped by the thin sheet that covered her body from prying eyes. She was beautiful in the morning and Ranger wouldn't mind waking to her every morning. She was peaceful as she slept, all angst from last night gone from her face to reveal a relaxed, softened face. He hoped nothing woke her; he would hate to see the anxious return.<p>

The phone rang beside them and he cursed darkly, reaching for the phone to slip it into silent. Too late though, Stephanie stirred her blue eyes blinking open mulishly. "Ranger?" she whispered quietly, eyes focusing on him. "What's that?" she mumbled, head muzzling into his bare chest.

"Phone babe," he answered, wrapping an arm around her.

"Turn it off!" she protested, turning her head to lay against the mattress.

"It's yours babe," he told her, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Do it anyway," she responded, voice already falling back into a drowsy mumble. He chuckled before reaching over her and grabbing her cell, flipping it open and pressing it to his ear.

"Yo," he spoke into it, eyes focused once more on the soft rise and fall of her chest.

"Ranger?" Morelli's voice spoke up, obviously shocked. Ranger lazily sat up, trying to draw the phone conversation away from Stephanie. Too late though, Morelli had spoken loudly and Stephanie's eyes were open again, staring at him curiously. "Why are you answering cupcake's phone?" Ranger knew he was going to hell and so didn't bother hiding the smug tone in his voice.

"Because Babe's tired from last night and didn't want to answer," he could practically feel the hostility breathing down from Morelli's end of the phone. He chuckled inwardly as he saw the deep flush carry down from her cheeks to her chest, dipping below what the sheet modestly hid from view.

"Why the hell did you spend the night with my girlfriend?"

"She isn't yours," Ranger retorted, the tightening of his fingers on the phone the only indication of his anger, "you left her for a whore and she called me to pick up the pieces,"

"You mean you took advantage over her when we were having a spat!" Morelli growled, "You don't care about her, you care about getting some cheap action!" Ranger glared at the phone. He could see the tears forming in his babe's eyes, and wanted Morelli to pay.

"She's not some cheap action and if you truly cared about her you wouldn't dare talk about her like that. You weren't having a spat, you were fucking another woman in her living room. If you dare call her again, come to her apartment or do anything to harass her, they'll be one less cop in Trenton," he hung up then, glaring darkly at the phone.

"Ranger?" her voice was soft, gentle even as she whispered inquisitively. He breathed deeply, calmingly before looking down at her. Her blue eyes were still watery but she had a soft smile on her face, "did you really mean that? That I wasn't just some cheap action for you?"

"Of course babe," he told her, gently hugging her. "I love you and I want to spend my life with you, no matter how short it may be," they both laughed but knew inwardly that it was ill-humor. In the bounty hunter business, even the best of the best might have a messy ending.

"Marry me," she said suddenly. Ranger lifted one eyebrow.

"Isn't the man supposed to ask, babe?" he asked sardonically. She glared, her body tight against him. It wasn't fair to push him so while asking such an important question; it was cheating.

"Shut up. You said you wanted to stay with me forever, put your money where your mouth is," she whispered the end in his ear, nearly making him moan. Damned woman with her evil wiles.

"That's cheating babe," he whispered back, arms tight around her as he pushed the sheet down slightly.

"Answer the question," she whispered back, lips mere centimeters from his, how easy it would be to just press his to hers but before he could she darted teasingly out of the way.

"Yes," he growled, pinning her down to the bed, "I'll marry you but damned if I'm letting your mother or granny getting involved, it's now or never babe." She smiled teasingly.

"Right now Ranger?" she asked, gently pressing her hips to his. He glared, pressing his lips harshly to hers.

"This afternoon, babe," he amended before kissing her once more and pulling her under the sheets.


	2. Chapter 2

Stephanie stared at the small, slender ring on her finger in wonder. Ranger had temporarily gone to pay and she was left to admire the gift. It was silver; the band magnificently crafted to resemble soft swirls around her finger, a large diamond was in the middle with several smaller, triangular pieces surrounding it to resemble flower petals. It was beautiful and she didn't dare think of the cost.

"This is unnecessary," she told Ranger and the salesmen when they returned, Ranger swiftly sliding his wallet back into his dark jeans. Ranger just smirked slightly and she knew that her voice had sounded awed even to herself.

"No its not and I already paid," he informed her, gently wrapping an arm around her waist and steering her out, probably with the correct assumption that if she spent any longer in the room, she might put the ring back and demand the money to be returned. This whole affair had been quick and easy, the justice peace in the early afternoon once they had finally crawled out of the warm sheets of her bed, and to the jeweler's afterwards.

"It's unnecessary," she whispered fiercely as Ranger opened the passenger door for her, "because we are already _married_!" He just laughed, further infuriating his new wife. The whole thing was lost on Stephanie, in a blur of excitement and embarrassment. She would never dream of telling him, but she had sometimes dreamed of this day but never quite like this. Somehow, she had thought her mother would be involved and she would be wearing some other than yesterday's crumpled jeans.

"It's the thought that counts though," he reminded her as he gunned the engine, streaking out of the parking lot and sliding swiftly into the Jersey traffic. "And you proposed to me, I might as well by the ring," she glared at him and was about to tell him that she was already regretting it when her phone rang and she really began regretting it.

"It's my mother! What do I do!" she was panicking and her worry wasn't eased when Ranger started laughing.

"You have to tell her eventually," he reminded her as her phone's voicemail picked up and the ringing started again. She glared at the phone.

"Of course I will. When Hell freezes over and Jesus Christ walks the Earth again to take all us believers with us because then she will be too distracted to kill me," Ranger barked out a laugh as he parked smoothly into the closest parking space available at her apartments. She went to open her door but he gently put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. She looked to him and gulped at the look in his eyes: they were dark, closer to black than the dark brown she was used to – a mixture of the desire, worry, and amusement that almost dominated the emotions in his eyes when he looked at her and an indiscernible emotion that had blood flushing through her face.

"I want her to know about us, Babe. What if we decide to have a child, what will you tell her?" she made to make a comment about how he'd said he would never want another child but he had also said he would never get married but a silver band was wrapped around her finger, and a curly-haired batbaby had crossed her mind a stab of longing had passed through.

"I'd tell her we'd been dating, I'd gotten pregnant, and we decided to marry because we cared for each other and the baby." She explained. He gave her an even darker look and she flushed embarrassedly.

"Babe." Was all he said and she winced slightly.

"I'll tell her." She caved, "eventually." Ranger laughed again at her stipulation, unclipping his seatbelt and appearing at her door before she could even react, opening it for her. She glared, momentarily forgetting her flushed state.

"Are you always going to do that?" She huffed. Ranger shot her a wolf-grin.

"Only if you always make that cute face," he told her. "I want you to tell her tonight, when we go to her house for dinner. I already made the plans babe, we're going to pick the rings up in an hour," he stopped short of the elevator, waiting the blowout.

"Ricardo Carlos Mañoso! You idiotic-ridiculously-hot-evil-bastard, how dare you!" she screeched as Ranger laughed, wrapping one arm carelessly around the irate woman. She glared at him, opening her mouth to yell at him some more for signing her death certificate only hours after they had married when his eyes darkened a fierce black and she gulped her sudden fear.

"Cupcake," an angry voice rang out and she groaned before turning towards the man who stood in the shadows of her apartment door. Morelli was standing in her doorway, spare keys swinging around his finger carelessly.

"Morelli," she glared, hand reaching to hold Ranger back if need be. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I came to congratulate the lucky couple, cupcake, when were you going to tell me you got knocked up by him?" He glared at the man in question as if Ranger was something dirty on his shoe. She stared, openly shocked at the words. How dare the bastard talk like that when she had caught him bare-assed in her apartment.

"I'm not pregnant, you rat-faced bastard, and if you dare insult me or my husband again, I'll shoot you dead." She glared, hoping to god he said something more so she could reach into Ranger's jacket pocket and make good on the promise. Morelli just laughed.

"Please cupcake you couldn't shoot an elephant in the trunk two paces in front of you." Quick as a flash, Stephanie grabbed the glock from Ranger's pocket and aimed it into Morelli's face.

"I once shot a man square in the heart five times and I liked him far more than I do you. Get the hell away from my door and don't you dare come to near me again or I'll unload this clip in your pretty face and not even Stiva's will have enough flesh putty to make you look normal again." Morelli backed up quickly, hands raised.

"I'll give you a week to come crawling back into my bed from this so-called 'marriage' of yours cupcake," he told her as he retreated. Stephanie squeezed the trigger and a bullet sailed past Morelli's ear, sending him high-tailing. Ranger tactfully grabbed Stephanie's wrist and pulled her into her apartment before her neighbors could come out, guns raised.

"You just shot at Morelli," he told her, for once dumb-faced and shell-shocked. Stephanie just shrugged.

"I would have got him the second time if you hadn't pulled me in here, I wanted to see a potato-sized hole in the front of his face, match his brain size, you know?" Ranger laughed, pulling her close and braving a deep kiss in front of the open door. Stephanie moaned when his calloused hands ran the space of her hips, shirt slightly raised, to the dip in her back.

Ranger pulled away, lips just barely touching hers when he whispered, "you looked hot as hell firing off my gun babe, too bad you can't do that at your mothers," Stephanie groaned loudly, pulling away from her new husband.

"If you don't want a potato-sized exit hole in your pretty head, I suggest you not remind me Mañoso." She told him, glaring. Ranger just smiled, pulling her close to him again with another kiss. "Ranger," she admonished as his hands dipped dangerously close to her jean's waistband.

"We got some time to kill before the jeweler's done," he told her, hands sliding between her waistband, making her gasp inaudibly as his cold fingers met her warm, bare flesh.

"Ranger," she protested feebly, one arm half-heartedly pushing on his chest.

"Babe." Was his only response before he closed the door to her nosy neighbors and kissed her again, more deep than even the last. That was the last coherent word for the new, freshly married couple, for several hours.

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><p>This was originally a lot better and a lot longer but my computer crashed when I was trying to save it and it only was about half-done when I got it back up. I hope you didn't mind it. I left the ending ambigious because I'm not sure if I want to write the Plum's reactions or just leave it completed. I guess that part is up to you all.<p> 


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